Imaging Technique | Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|---|
Bioluminescence optical imaging | Very high sensitivity | Very low spatial resolution |
High throughput | Only planar imaging, not tomographic | |
Very versatile | Surface-weighted images owing to light scatter and absorption | |
Cheap | Semiquantitative imaging data | |
Mass amount of probe required (? toxic) | ||
Not an established clinical technique | ||
MR imaging | Very high spatial resolution | Low sensitivity |
Tomographic imaging | Mass amount of probe required (? toxic) | |
Widely available established clinical technique | ||
PET, SPECT | High sensitivity | Low spatial resolution |
Fully quantitative imaging data | Probes for using HSV1-tk gene do not cross the blood-brain barrier | |
Tomographic imaging | ||
Nanogram amount of probe required (nontoxic and safe) | D2R gene normally expressed in basal ganglia interferes with image interpretation when using this reporter system | |
Established clinical techniques |
Note:—? toxic indicates a question concerning potential toxicity.